The next day gave Michi an odd feeling. For the past several weeks, she had been making her journey to school alone. Before, she had met up with Mayu and Itsuki along the way, but thanks to her own actions, that hadn't been happening. Now though, as she approached the point they used to meet up at, the spot that had been empty for a time now had Mayu and Itsuki in it once again.
"Heya Mi-chan," Itsuki said. "Good morning," Mayu added. "Good morning you two," Michi said back in response. She couldn't help but smile. "It's been a while since we walked together like this," Itsuki said, giving voice to Michi's feelings. "Yes. It's nice that we're back together," Mayu said with a small nod.
As they walked along, Michi began making comparisons. In the time she had been apart from Mayu and Itsuki, she had made new friends. They weren't bad at all, and Michi did get along with them, but... it was different. Walking to school was the perfect example. She hadn't once done that with any of them since becoming friends. Although, Michi was sure that even if she did, it wouldn't feel the same. Being able to walk with Mayu and Itsuki just felt right.
Her thinking made her wonder if it would be possible to balance the two groups. "It would be great if they'd all get along, but it's always awkward bringing friend groups together," Michi thought. She began to worry if reuniting with Mayu and Itsuki would cause problems with her new friends. The relationships that she had with them may have been different, but they were still ones that Michi wanted to keep. They had only just begun to really form a bond. To have to abandon that would just hurt Michi's heart. "Well, it's not like anyone's making me choose either..." she thought. In the end, she decided that all she could do was hope for the best.
Approaching the school, Michi looked around for the one person missing from their group. "Is she here yet?" she wondered. Through their first year of high school, Mayu, Itsuki, Michi and Kanako had all come together at the gates, but ever since Kanako had started walking with Haruna, that had begun to vary. "Maybe they're still on their way..." she thought begrudgingly. Even if she wanted to really fix her friendship with Kanako, Michi still needed to figure out a way to deal with Haruna.
Aside from the two of them being childhood friends, Michi just didn't understand why Kanako chose to spend her time with Haruna. Regardless of her confusion though, one thing had been made clear: when asked to choose, it had been Haruna that Kanako had chosen, not her. That had caused all sorts of feelings to swirl about inside Michi, but finally, it felt like she could actually think about them.
Some deep self-reflection had helped Michi to cast away her desire to blame all of her problems on everyone else. She was also able to see just how much she had been in her own way. Really, it didn't matter why Kanako had picked Haruna over her. Michi's own attitude had been more than enough to push Kanako away on its own. If she was ever going to stand a chance of regaining Kanako as a friend, that was something that needed to change.
Unfortunately, knowing that and actually doing it were two separate issues. There had already been times in the past when Michi had wanted to talk about something, only for her mouth to say something else entirely. That had caused several arguments with Kanako, and each one had served to cause more and more damage to their fracturing friendship.
"Will I actually be able to say what I want to say this time?" Michi wondered. "Hey, Mi-chan, aren't you gonna change your shoes?" Itsuki suddenly asked. "Huh?" Michi let out. She looked at her friends, who were already about to go down the hall. Then she looked down at her feet. "Oh, right," she said upon seeing her outdoor shoes still on. "You okay Mi-chan? You got pretty quiet toward the end of our walk here," Itsuki said, concerned. "I'm fine," Michi answered. "Just thinking about some things." "If you say so..."
Mayu and Itsuki went ahead of Michi after both staring at her for a moment. "I appreciate their concern," Michi thought, "But I'm not even sure what I'd tell them if I tried to talk to them about it." While Michi's head felt clearer than it had in a while, there were still things she was trying to sort out. Primarily, the issue of Haruna.
Trying to change her own attitude already felt like enough of a challenge, but on top of that, Michi had to contend with the person she liked the least. "Haruna Endo..." she thought angrily. "If you hadn't shown up..." But as soon as she thought that, she stopped. "No..." Michi corrected herself. "Even if her showing up has caused me problems, it's not like it's entirely her fault either..."
Of course, once again, knowing that and doing something about it were two separate things. "No matter how I look at it, I just can't stand her," Michi thought. "She's rude, crass and so stupidly tall! Then there's all of the things she did to Kana-chan..."
To Michi, there was just no forgiving the Haruna she knew. To Michi, Haruna Endo was a bully and a terror to Kanako. It had seemed like Kanako just existing had been enough to irk her. Haruna insulted her relentlessly, she picked fights for no reason and she even got physically confrontational with Kanako once or twice. That was the Haruna that Michi knew.
Obviously things were different now. Haruna and Kanako seemed to get along fairly well, apparently putting all of their past differences behind them. However, while the change in Haruna should've been obvious, Michi had a hard time believing it. People don't change. In Michi's heart, that was what she believed. Seeing Haruna act the way she did now to Kanako came into direct conflict both with what Michi believed and what she knew about Haruna from before. "There's just no way she's actually nice to her now," she thought.
And yet, there was another conflict. Michi didn't think Haruna was really being nice to Kanako, but watching them together proved different. "I just don't get it," she thought, annoyed. "Endo-san is just one big jerk. How could she be nice to Kana-chan now?" It felt like something was missing. "If I just knew what it was, then maybe it would make sense..."
She wanted to dwell on that, but Michi forced herself to move on. "If I get too hung up on that again, I'll just end up back where I started," she thought. For the most part, there was really only one question she needed to consider: how was she going to co-exist with Haruna while being friends with Kanako? "I really don't want us to be at each other's throats every time we're around each other."
Was there a way? At the moment, Michi couldn't see it. As long as she viewed Haruna through a past lens, there was no way she'd be able to figure out a way to be around her peacefully. "If only she wasn't so mean," Michi thought. "Then maybe I'd be able to change my mind about her."
After all, it clearly wasn't impossible. Michi had once hated Chiyo, and now she called her a friend. It was hard for Michi to even understand how that had happened, but it had happened nonetheless. Considering that was the case, was there a possibility that she could have a similar change of heart about Haruna? "...That seems unlikely," she quickly concluded. The situations were different. When it came to Chiyo, it had mostly been an issue of just not understanding her. With Haruna, Michi already felt like she had a good grasp on what kind of person she was. If she already knew that and knew that their personalities wouldn't mesh, then was there really any hope at all?
Michi wanted to be friends with Kanako again. She was sure of that, but she also wondered how good her odds were. Changing her attitude was already a sizable hurdle, and then there was Haruna to deal with too. Adding to those was also one more issue. Even if Michi managed to rid herself of her bad habits and even if she managed to figure out a way to get along with Haruna, there was still the question of if Kanako would even be willing to give it a shot.